Feminism report essay

Document Type:Thesis

Subject Area:History

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At the age of nine Truth was auctioned and sold together with a herd of cattle to her new master John Neely. Neely was cruel to the young girl and Truth described him as rude and harsh describing how he beat her on a daily basis. Two years later, Truth was sold to Martinus Schriever who after eighteen months sold her to John Dumont. Although her fourth master was not cruel, his wife hated Truth and mistreated her. Later, Truth got married to a slave by the name Thomas and she bore five children The road to abolition of slave trade in New York began in 1799. Truth activated for anti-slavery and the rights of women and the blacks (Sojourner & Kennedy, 85). The truth was affiliated with various organizations and traveled to various places actively pushing for women's rights.

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To date, she is best renowned for her speech at the “Ohio Women’s Rights Convention” which was held in 1851. By this time, Truth had joined George Thompson who was an abolitionist as well as a speaker. The speech she delivered in Ohio, which was later branded “Ain’t I a Woman”, brought Truth to fame. She is remembered today as a feminist who advocated for the rights of women and pushed for reforms in the society. Sojourner Truth is a woman who is brought up in a hostile environment. However, she does not let the problems surrounding her life bring her down. Despite having been a slave and a black-American too, Sojourner rises up and fights for her life and that of women.

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Today she is remembered as one of the pioneers who activated for equality and rights of women. She also actively debated legal matters with her father’s assistants at a very young age. It was this early exposure that shaped Elizabeth to later become an activist and an advocator of human rights. From a young age, Elizabeth Cady realized, from the law books she read, that women (particularly the married women) had no virtual employment or property ownership rights. Elizabeth noted that the law greatly favored men over women. After graduating from Johnstown Academy, she was discriminated based on her gender and denied a chance to join the Union College that only accepted male students (Thomas, 72). Together with her husband (who was one of the founders of the Republican Party) the two became leading abolitionists who condemned slavery.

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Later, Elizabeth narrowed her focus on advocating for the rights of women. Unlike many feminists at her time who mainly focused on women’s right to vote, Elizabeth diversified her concerns to include property rights, parental custody rights, income and employment, divorce and birth control among other women’s rights. Her diversification came from the vast knowledge of legal rights and how the law at that time favored men and demeaned the women. In collaboration with Susan Anthony, Elizabeth refused to back the amendment of the American constitution that was to allow black American men to vote while women, both white and black, were denied the same privilege (Davis, 5). From her life, Elizabeth is dedicated to improving the livelihood of women by leading as an example and also speaking out on behalf of the women.

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